Great day for summitting the Dome. We went up via the 19-Mile Brook Trail to the Carter Notch Hut which had a few inches of new snow on it but easily hikable with microspikes. We used snowshoes from the hut to the Dome summit via the Carter Moriah Trail but aside from a dozen snowdrifts I think cramp-ons would have been faster and better on the black ice beneath the powder in places. One way down via the Carter-Moriah, Carter Dome and 19-Mile Brook trails we used crampons. I fell through the ice on one stream on the Carter Dome trail but got my foot out before I took on water so no issue in cold weather. It was 0F at the trailhead at 7:30am, 2F at the Hut, and -2F at the summit with -18F wind chills. It was all bearable with no to mild winds.

A flurry of snow made the paths walkable without crampons, in spite of the ice underneath. The view at Carter Notch and from near the summit was one of unbridled beauty. 20F plus wind chill, and the wind must have been going at least 40mph up on Mount Hight: it was challenging, but well worth it, and definitely better than any summer climb!

I camped at the 19-Mile Brook Trail junction the night before and hiked up it early in the morning. There were no views from the top, but I walked north on the trail a while and found an overlook facing west. It was a clear day and there were beautiful views of Washington, which was snow-capped.